Ventilus – Affected companies: “go underground after all”
The Flemish government will now put the Ventilus dossier on the agenda on Friday or the following week. Last year it opted for a largely above-ground route, but the government is asking for a stronger package of flanking measures for those affected.
It would only approve the spatial implementation plan for the high-voltage line when those measures were in place. “We ask the federal government to review that package and to provide for expropriation and relocation in the event of an unhealthy situation,” says Ignace Vandewalle of Involte.
“At the consultation committee last month, the federal government and minister Van der Straeten only took note of the Flemish government’s ‘demand’,” says Vandewalle. “There were no concrete actions.”
Only later
“We also note that the tender for the construction of the first wind farm in the Princess Elisabeth zone has been postponed,” says Vandewalle. For example, the first and smallest wind farm would only be operational by 2029. “The Ventilus line will really be needed by 2031 at the earliest,” they calculate at Involte.
“Irresponsible”
“Since the German professor Westerman indicated that the technology for a network of underground cables on direct current would be freely available from 2030, it would be irresponsible for any government to now choose a technology where there are at least doubts about the health risks .”